Khazanah Transferred RM19.59m to FashionValet Account in 2018, Court Told in Vivy Yusof Trial

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — The Sessions Court was today informed that state sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) transferred two payments totalling approximately RM19.59 million into a bank account belonging to e-commerce firm Fashion Valet Sdn Bhd in March 2018.

Testifying as the fourth prosecution witness, CIMB Bank Berhad Menara KL Sentral branch manager Lee Hui Nee, 58, said a review of Khazanah’s bank statements revealed an initial transfer of RM7,848,000 recorded on March 23, 2018, followed by a second transfer of RM11,742,000 on March 26, 2018.

“The total amount transferred was RM19,590,000. Both payments were made via interbank transfers from Khazanah’s CIMB account to Fashion Valet Sdn Bhd’s Public Bank account,” Lee told the court on the fourth day of the trial involving FashionValet co-founders Datin Vivy Sofinas Yusof and her husband Datuk Fadzarudin Shah Anuar.

Lee explained that the transactions strictly followed standard banking operating procedures after receiving official instruction letters signed by authorised Khazanah signatories, alongside telephone verification with designated officers. She confirmed that an audit of Khazanah’s account statements from Jan 31, 2017, to Dec 31, 2019, showed no other transfers to FashionValet’s accounts outside the two March 2018 transactions.

Earlier, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) assistant registrar R. Harshini, 36, testified that corporate registry records showed Vivy Sofinas and Fadzarudin remained active directors of FashionValet without any status changes or resignations between 2012 and 2024.

Harshini noted that Vivy was appointed as a FashionValet director on Sept 29, 2010, while Fadzarudin was appointed on Dec 13, 2012. Both were simultaneously appointed as directors of 30 Maple Sdn Bhd on Dec 9, 2013, maintaining those positions through 2024.

However, SSM records documented several resignations among other company directors during the same timeline, including earliest director Datin Aishah Mohd Jelani on Sept 29, 2010, and Wong Thean Soon on April 12, 2018. Other departures included Chong Yit Phin and Intan Safina Yusof in March 2019, Arshad A Ahmed in July 2023, and most recently Benjamin Low Ewe Ee and Nurul Iman Mohd Zaman on Jan 9, 2024.

Vivy, 38, and Fadzarudin, 37, are jointly charged as directors of FashionValet with committing criminal breach of trust involving RM8 million in investment funds from Khazanah and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). The couple is accused of authorising an RM8 million payment from FashionValet’s corporate bank account to 30 Maple Sdn Bhd without obtaining approval from FashionValet’s board of directors.

The alleged offence was committed at Public Bank Berhad’s Bukit Damansara branch on Aug 21, 2018. The primary charge under Section 409 of the Penal Code provides for a prison term between two and 20 years, whipping, and a fine upon conviction.

Both accused have also pleaded not guilty to an alternative charge under Section 403 of the Penal Code for dishonestly misappropriating RM8 million in Khazanah and PNB investment funds at the same date and venue. Section 403 carries an imprisonment sentence between six months and five years, whipping, and a fine upon conviction.

The trial before Sessions Court Judge Rosli Ahmad will resume on Oct 16.

-NMT